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Rick Gevers & Associates

Tuesday, August 4th UPDATE:

Bob Stoldal

A veteran Las Vegas newsman returns to a newsroom in an announcement made today. BOB STOLDAL has been named Executive VP/News for KVBC-TV in Las Vegas, the Sunbelt-owned NBC affiliate there. Bob’s a native Nevadan who spent almost his entire career at KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas. He retired from the station in July, 2008. More on this more in our regular weekly update later this week.

Greetings:

What we may lack this week in news director changes…we make up for in a full section of Names in the News.

That’s because was have only ONE new ND opening to share with you, and, to the best of my knowledge, NO new NDs were named since our last report. We’ll also tell you about a longtime news director who was laid off by his station.

That brings, by my count, the number of open ND jobs to 25.

We do have a paid ad for one of those 25 openings…that’s below. And we have several new news management openings.

In Names in the News, there are details about new jobs (all out of newsrooms) for several veteran news people. We’ll tell you about a new Assistant ND in Chicago who comes….sort of…from the movies. And we’ll tell you about a former news director who’s developed a relaxing app for the iPhone.

And we’ll give you a chance to help two Arizona State University professors with some research they are conducting.

All that and more after this week’s changes:

NEW NEWS DIRECTOR OPENINGS:

WNWO-TV, Toledo, OH…TIM LIVINGSTON has left this NBC affiliate which is owned by Barrington Broadcasting. Tim’s worked at the station for about 12 years and was promoted to ND in June, 2008.

NEW NEWS DIRECTORS NAMED:

None that I know of.

One more note…longtime KAPP-TV (Yakima, WA) News Director MIKE BALMELLI was one of two staffers laid off this week at this Morgan Murphy Media owned ABC affiliate. Mike worked at the stations for more than 17 years and had been ND for 12.

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PAID ADS:

NEWS DIRECTOR, WECT-TV, WILMINGTON, NC:

WECT-TV, Raycom’s NBC affiliate in Wilmington, NC seeks a News Director who has a successful track record of leading aggressive news coverage. Strong leadership abilities, communications and interpersonal skills, and a passion for news are a must.

Responsibilities include setting and communicating goals and strategies, staff management, budget/expense administration and efficient use of station resources.

Must be able to provide strategic direction for day-to-day news coverage, breaking news & weather, and major stories on-air and on our highly trafficked website, while consistently communicating and protecting the brand image. Our station produces 34 hours of news per week. Candidate should have experience in maximizing local coverage, weather and sports over various day parts. Successful candidate should exhibit a track record of working with Sales and Marketing on a variety of special projects.

Background should include 3-5 years of significant experience in television newsroom management with previous News Director experience preferred.

Help Some ASU Professors:

Two professors at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University are doing research on “Visual Gatekeeping”. They’re hoping to hear from news directors, executive producers, chief photographers, web producers, and assignment editors. They’d like your thoughts on these questions:

1. Do visuals play a more important role in determining what is news than ever before? If yes, what is different now than before? Consider things like converged newsrooms, the widespread accessibility of photos on the Internet, and the ease with which anyone can create and publish content.

2. Who are the visual gatekeepers in your organization? What attributes or skills do they need?

3. Do you see the role of visual gatekeepers changing in the future? How so?

Send your responses to Bill Silcock at: bsilcock@asu.edu

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Names in the News:

WBBM-TV, the CBS o-and-o in Chicago, has hired DON DuPREE as its Assistant ND. DuPree spent the last 15 years the EP for Ebert & Roeper and the Movies. But earlier in his career he was an EP for WMAQ-TV in Chicago and also worked at WJZ-TV in Baltimore.

Craig Marrs

Veteran newsman, consultant, and general manager CRAIG MARRS has been named General Manager of KTEN-TV in Dennison, TX. That’s an NBC affiliate owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group. During his career, Craig has consulted for SmithGeiger, Crawford Johnson & Northcott, and Frank N. Magid Associates. He’s been a GM in Huntsville, station manager for KRON-TV in San Francisco, helped found Northwest Cable News in Seattle, was a VP for an internet company in San Francisco (Zatso), and was an ND in Oklahoma City. You can reconnect with Craig at: cmarrs919@yahoo.com

Former Ft. Myers, Roanoke/Lynchburg, and Yuma News Director BRUCE KIRK is headed to academia. Bruce is joining the faculty at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, where he’ll teach, oversee the campus radio station and help develop a TV station. Bruce spent much of his career on-air in markets like Detroit and Phoenix before moving to his first ND job in Yuma. Wish him well at bkmedia@aol.com

Ellen Miller

ELLEN MILLER has been named Director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University. The center’s mission is to ensure that high quality journalism continues to have a vibrant place in our democracy. Ellen’s a former ND at WBTV in Charlotte, and also was an assistant ND in Chicago and Nashville. Most recently she’s been working with MIKE SECHRIST on an online hyperlocal website, www.nashville247.tv You can congratulate Ellen at: ellenews@aol.com

Mike Rausch

Former news director MIKE RAUSCH has developed an application for Apple’s iPhone. It’s called ‘That Beach Channel’ and plays relaxing beach scenes (shot in HD) from around the world. You can preview the concept at www.thatbeachchannel.com Mike’s a former ND in Orlando, Portland (OR), Louisville and Rochester, NY. You can reach him via email at mike@crimeline.com

Rod Madden

Longtime Disney World PR man ROD MADDEN has left the Mouse and ventured out onto his own under the banner of Rod Madden Media Services, LLC. We mention this because many of you know Rod from his longtime role as liaison between Disney and broadcast media and his regular role as host of Disney receptions at RTNDA and other conventions. He’s also a former ND at two stations in Terre Haute, IN. Wish Rod well via email at: jrodmadden@aol.com

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Here’s a complete list of all stations that I believe have a current ND opening, as of Friday, July 31, 2009. If you know of any updates, corrections, or additions to this list, please let me know via email at: rick@rickgevers.com